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Peters Township guitarist earns Three Rivers Arts Festival slot

By Harry Funk 3 min read
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Steven Hart and his Martin

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Steven Hart and his Martin

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Steven Hart’s Martin guitar

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Steven Hart and his Martin

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Steven Hart and his Martin

Now that Peters Township’s teachers have a new contract, everyone involved is a bit happier.

Well, the students who will be sitting in school further into June than usually probably aren’t so excited. But Steven Hart won’t especially mind.

When his teachers temporarily traded the classroom for the picket line in the fall, the high school senior actually did something constructive. He wrote and recorded a song to submit to WYEP-FM’S Reimagine Media program for young musicians.

“I had a bunch of free time, and I knew the deadline was approaching,” Steven, 17, said. “So I decided, I’ll make some good use of my time, and I did that in a couple of days.”

The resulting composition, “No Expansion,” subsequently was selected to appear on a compact disc featuring the work of Pittsburgh-area high school students. The radio station also arranged for him to play a particularly high-profile gig: the Three Rivers Arts Festival, at which he’ll perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 5, on the acoustic stage.

“I remember getting the email and was pretty shocked, like, wow, that’s a major thing,” he said. “I’m really excited.”

Steven plans to mix in some originals with an eclectic mix of cover versions by way of early ’70s folk icon Nick Drake, ’90s-era songwriter Elliott Smith, Australian jack-of-all-trades Nick Cave and the lighter side of Led Zeppelin.

“I also do a version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on the ukulele, all solo,” he said about the Queen classic.

For “Reimagination III,” WYEP’s third showcase CD, Steven re-recorded his song at The Church Recording Studio in Carrick, working with producer Rick Witkowski, who is renowned in progressive rock circles as guitarist for the band Crack the Sky. For the new version of “No Expansion,” Mt. Lebanon resident Nadia Huber contributes backing vocals.

Like many youngsters who think they might want to play guitar, Steven received one from his parents, Tim and Elena, as a third-grade Christmas gift. Unlike many other kids, Steven stuck with it, taking lessons ever since at Guitar Gallery in North Strabane Township.

Dad, as it turns out, also is a guitarist.

“He actually started after me,” Steven revealed. “He always wanted a guitar when he was younger, but his parents never went for it. So just a couple of months after he bought me my first one, he bought his own.”

Steven, as it turns out, wants to be like Dad: Dr. Timothy Hart is a pediatrician by profession.

“I want to keep up with music, but I want to study medicine and become a doctor,” Steven said about his post-high school plans.

In the meantime, he’ll continue to play lead guitar in the band Father Avalanche with buddies Cullen Browell, Anthony Wells, Joseph McNamara.

And he’ll have his Three Rivers Arts Festival performance to think about as the school year finally draws to a close.

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